Pilgrimage from Pontavert to Reims 15/06/07

We were about 25kms away from Reims, which is a big town, so I wanted to get an early start and get there around lunch time. It wasn’t to be….

Dan was going a bit slow so I left him still in his tent at around 08:30. It was great to get some food from the bakery and after demolishing that I headed off. It wasn’t long though that something didn’t feel right. I had left my bloody staff behind. I couldn’t believe it but I knew I had to go back and get it.

Dan was just finishing packing when I got back so we went for coffee. It wasn’t till around 10:30 that we finally left town.

The walk was pretty boring as we were next to a main road but then finally we found what we had been waiting for the whole trip…a winery!

After getting really excited we knocked on the door only to be told that they were closed for lunch. Luckily we had our staffs though because the man then recognized us as pilgrims and let us in anyway.

Francis is a fifth generation wine maker and obviously loves his job. He was a real gentleman and took the time to explain all about the champagne process. It was a real treat to have this as our first winery experience. And out of the 12000 wineries in the Champagne region he is one of only 20 that grows organically. Check out his website at http://www.champagne-boulard.fr/

Then it was off to Reims. The first thing we wanted to do was eat but once again we had our timing wrong. The restaurants weren’t serving food so we found a greasy chicken van on the side of the road. This ended up being a blessing as we started talking to these two French guys who invited us back to there house to eat. Cheers guys!

After a few wines, way too many beers and a couple of glasses of champagne I found myself playing poker at one of there friend’s houses at about 5am. It wasn’t pretty…